Lisa Moore Will Die on October 4Editor & Publisher notes that the character Lisa Moore will succumb to cancer in the October 4 installment of Tom Batiuk's Funky Winkerbean strip, the climax of an extended plot-line that has brought attention to Batiuk's solid, long-time performer and instigated discussion of what is appropriate to or at least desirable for the newspaper comics page. Two compelling outcomes: a charitable fund to which Batiuk will donated all proceeds of the forthcoming book about the storyline, and a forthcoming ten-year jump in time for the narrative of Batiuk's soap opera.

The thing I find fascinating about this storyline is that it's a recurrence for the character's cancer but also in a way a chance for Batiuk to take another shot about cancer and the issue of mortality. You can also see Batiuk's take this time around as representative of a more dour, fatalistic view on life that comes through a various times in the strip's history.